The New Rental Boom That Could Help Kill NIMBYism
Neighborhoods of single-family homes built for tenants, not owners, could be the solution to creating denser communities.
The stakes are different for home renters.
Source: Bloomberg
The market for single-family rentals is changing. What started as a way for investors to buy up foreclosures in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis is turning into a full-fledged asset class. Investors are now working with developers directly to produce build-for-rent homes that have a physical appearance closer to a suburban neighborhood, but are marketed to renters rather than owners.
One interesting way this might change communities is through a reduction in the "not in my backyard" mentality that leads homeowners to oppose the construction of new or higher-density housing. Rather than a bunch of individual homeowners concerned about their own property values, there might be a handful of corporate owners of properties, with their tenants seeing more construction as a way to lower rents at the expense of wealthy institutional owners.